My First Experience with Intermittent Fasting

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Just browse my YouTube channel, and you’ll see that a good portion of them are related in some shape or form to intermittent fasting. After many of my viewers pressed me on the question, I decided to share with you my personal story that put me on the intermittent fasting train. I have never turned back, and my first intermittent fasting experience taught me so much about my own body.

How It All Got Started

As some of my more long-time followers may know, I’m a fan of martial arts. Well, some time prior to 2011, I was watching the 2008 MMA film Never Back Down. It blew me away how absolutely shredded the cast members were.

During this time, I was already on my muscle-building quest, but I was not following any of the methods I preach in the Kinobody program. I was doing the typical bulk-up diet, where I would consume massive quantities of calories. Sure, it was actually quite effective for putting on mass. Unfortunately, with bulk-up diets come the collateral: fat gain.

While I put on muscle mass, much of it was buried in the extra layers of unsightly body fat. Even worse, it didn’t just manifest around my belly. It was also obvious around areas that you couldn’t quite obscure with clothing, such as my face and my fingers.

Needless to say, I wanted the lean chisel look, just like the actors in Never Back Down. However, at the time, I was under the belief that as long as I was in a muscle-building phase, I would have to put up with the additional body fat for the time being.

Even as I was bulking up, I would experiment with different dieting strategies espoused by bodybuilders. This included ketogenic dieting and eating six to seven small meals a day. While I did see some degree of success, the whole process just felt like an uphill battle. In essence, I just felt the constant calorie deficit and eating every two hours was unsustainable.

In my heart, I just knew there had to be a better way…

How I Learned About Intermittent Fasting

The turning point came when I began looking up a series of posts by Rusty Moore. Rusty has released tons of content on dieting over the years and how intermittent dieting was a regular part of his lifestyle.

I was shocked to learn that it was possible to get shredded without doing the whole six-meals-a-day routine. I then read one of his recommended books on intermittent fasting (The Warrior Diet), which explained all the health benefits of intermittent fasting and why most of the conventional bodybuilding wisdom were dead wrong.

I was sold on the information and gave intermittent fasting my first try the next day.

Other than the expected hunger pang, I felt pretty good and even had a good sprint workout during the fast. It was also satisfying on a psychological level knowing that what I was doing was not only to burn fat but also contributing to better health.

It was good knowing that I was getting a boost in growth hormones and keeping insulin levels low for optimal weight loss. It also felt free not having to prepare multiple meals and eat around the clock. It was especially a relief knowing my digestive tract no longer has to work overtime digesting food nonstop.

My Experimentation with Different Fasting Procedures

Fasting doesn’t come in a single method. I explored other fasting strategies, including:

I was especially a devoted follower of the 16-hour fast for several years but eventually found the 8-hour window more restrictive than I would’ve liked. This lead to me forming my own style of fasting.

This has led to the intermittent fasting I currently promote in my numerous Kinobody courses, including the wildly popular Warrior Shredding Program. My method of intermittent fasting is far more flexible and doesn’t have a set-in-stone eating window. If you like the 16-hour fast, you can stick to it. You can also opt for a slightly shorter or longer period by an hour or two.

(As long as you stay within range and stick to the right macronutrient ratio, you’ll see amazing results.)

Moving Forward

As of the date of this post, I have been doing the Kinobody way of fasting for about seven years. There were a lot of refinements along the way where I made some mistakes and made discoveries. All of it though led to the fasting strategy as I outline it in my courses.

Do you know what was one of my greatest discoveries? It was learning not to insanely cut calories. This will only make you hungry and your fasting even harder.

Another valuable lesson I learned was keeping protein intake modest. I discovered it was not necessary to load up my fridge with lean cuts of meats and poultry, nor did every meal need to include a whey protein shake. Too much protein has actually been shown in a study to reduce testosterone.

Protein-based foods are also expensive. I currently weigh 185lb. and keep my daily protein consumption at around 140-grams.

Your Next Step

Intermittent fasting works for anyone regardless of whether your primary goal is gaining muscle or losing fat. The exact processes, though, differ from one person to another.

This is why I recommend you use my Physique Builder Tool if you haven’t already done so. The short questionnaire is applicable for men and women. Once you go through this super short survey-style tool, I can recommend a specific course for your goals, based on where you are right now.

So, there you have it – my personal story that got the gears going on my intermittent fasting journey.

Check out any of the Kinobody courses, such as the Superhero Bulking Program or Aggressive Fat Loss Program. They all include a fasting guide specific to the courses’ curriculum. Think of it as a shortcut to bypass the seven years of trial and error I went through.

Greg O'Gallagher

Greg O'Gallagher is the founder of Kinobody, a site dedicated to helping men and women achieve the lean, muscular, and aesthetic "Hollywood" physique. His fitness programs have helped hundreds of thousands of people transform their bodies and change their lives in the process.

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Please Note: The author of this site is not engaged in rendering professional advice or services to the individual reader. The ideas, procedures, and suggestions contained within this work are not intended as a substitute for consulting with your physician. All matters regarding your health require medical supervision. The author shall not be liable or responsible for any loss or damage allegedly arising from any information or suggestions within this blog. You, as a reader of this website, are totally and completely responsible for your own health and healthcare.

*Your results may vary. Testimonials and examples used are exceptional results and are not intended to guarantee, promise, represent and/or assure that anyone will achieve the same or similar results.